Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-01-28
BARON Won kAUlBARS.
An Insolent Coward and n Great Fa-
vorite of the Czar-Su bservtent to
His superiors, Brutal To His
Subordiuates

Kaulbars, is the curious product of
curious type of civilization. lie is Of
Finnish origin, being the descendant OF
I family as old "a the basalt rocks of
Finland, family withal which has
never hitherto prominently figured in
he annals of Russia, albeit during the
centuries that the province formed
part of Sweden the Kaulbars occupied
frequently high administrativeposts of
honor. Like the inhabitants of tho
Baltic provinces even to-day, the Fin
anders were wont to look upon the
Russians as semi barbarians. cons dered
he annexation of their home with the
huscovite empire in the light of a pub
ic calamity aud degradation, and kept
iloft from the court at ST. Petersburg
md all the Danae modes of persuasion
md classification in vogue there. The
subject of this sketch. however. is a
nan cast in different mold. From
lis very childhood up he was cut out
Tor mission such as Gar Alexander
III. sent him on to Bulgaria. In acting
rs he did during these last two troublous
months in the land of the Bulgar, he
,cted strictly according to his nature.
following his own bent even more than
,he instructions of his imperial master
Sen. Kaulbars is tall, well-made man.
IF aristocratic bearing and appearance.
married only slightly by a bureaucratic
.inge in his manner and form of speech.
/ His exterior is slavshly modelled after
that of the present car. The cut of
ais beard and clothes, the infections of
ais voice and number of his
stock phrases. even. are the exact
counterpart of Alexander III. He
possesses the strictly Russian polish.
Unless circumstances make him show
his real nature, he is the pink of po-
likeness. hospitality, and good nature.
lie IS subservient to his superiors. POI
lite toward his equals, and overbearing
and brutal to his interiors He is a
great linguist, possessing a perfect
knowledge of the Swedish, Finnish,
Russian, German. and French Ian
guages. and talks and reads little
English as we'll He is wealthy and a
nigh liver and his dinners en- petit
;omtte have long ranked high with
ronnoisscurs at the Russian capital.
His wines especially bear deservedly
high reputation. Withal he is not pop
alar in Russian official circles. The in
nate brutality of the man. though in
ordinary cases mantled, has too often
cropped out to let him become a favor
tie. Besides, his lack of personal cour-
age, manifested on several conspicuous
occasions. has earned for him no env-
able name with the higher class of
Russians Although bearing the title
Of general he has never distinguished
himself as a soldier, and the smell of
gunpowdcr has rarely assailed his nos
trils. AS a diplomatst, too. he has
never made much of a success Grad
mated IN the tortuous school OF Russian
statecraft, his want of brain power
has interfered with his progress. The
only special aptitude he has ever dis
played up to recently for diplomacy was
mis- forte as a raconteur His stock of
more or less spiced anecdotes, picked
up in the capitals of the world as well
as on the steppes of Russia, is fairly IL
Irritable. and it was this which first
gave him hold on the consideration
and the lberality of the present car.
During the reign of the now defunct
autocrat of Russia Gen. Kaubars was
kept vigorously in the background, but
at court ball soon after the accession
Of the present Car he managed to let
his master enjoy good laugh at one of
ais droll stories, and henceforth his
fortune was made. He proved himself
worthy of the imperial favor by slavish
obedience and a complete sacrifice of
any of his own ideas and likings when
ever they came in conflict with those of
his sovereign. The car very soon
came to know that in Baron Kaulbars
he had found man only too ready TO
do aught to gain his approval, and it
was this knowledge probably which
made him select this man for mis-
sion so distastetul to any one gifted
with sensiblities and degree of COM
mon fairness. How well his emissary
has done his part and how flagrantly
he acted the bully for months toward a
weak adversary in order to crafty a
within of his master. the world knows
by this time. From the tone of the
Russian official press during the whole
controversy it may be even sormised
that Gen. Kaulbars actel too zealously
and overdd his part now and then,
compromising Russia even more in the
eyes of all civilized nations than was
necessary in the fuliilment of his in
structions But the car is very lenent
toward faults of this kind. preferring
TO have servants unwisely eager in his
behalf than not eager at all. and that